Countdown to My Daughters 1st Birthday

Has it really been almost a year? Yes it has.
It's been an amazing year and Mommy hood has been better than I could have ever imagined! Miakoda's birthday is March 17th and we will be spending the whole day together.
The following weekend, my husband and I are putting together a small dinner with close family and friends to celebrate. She will be one and although she's smart as a tack, themes, bounce houses and the like would be lost on her. We tend to gravitate to more natural celebrations anyways, so a small gathering it is. We will spend the time eating good food, having fun and most important, loving up on my sweet little one!
So on to the countdown.
Here is what I have done and what still needs to get done for the gathering.

Make Birthday dress and Party dress- Finished over the weekend, just need to hand wash and dry. http://andeverything-in-between.blogspot.com/2011/03/adventures-in-sewing.html
Make fabric Birthday Banner- collected fabric scraps, etc. will be done Wednesday
Make "Guess my Age" board- haven't started yet
Finish 20 questions game and make printouts- will finish tonight
Put together 2 prizes- keeping it simple, have a few ideas in mind
Finish 1 year video- currently working on
Finish 1 year scrapbook- not going to happen, i haven't even started it :)
Shop for menu items- got some will shop for the rest at Friday's farmers market
Make edible fruit display- will get fruit Friday and make Friday evening

Menu so far;
Grilled Vegetable sandwichs on whole wheat
Mock Tuna salad sandwiches on rolls
Kale salad
Quinoa salad
Edible fruit display
Variety of tortilla and pita chips with avocado chutney, hummus and salsa
Variety of Nori rolls http://andeverything-in-between.blogspot.com/2010/03/nori-rolls.html
Variety of cupcakes
Hibiscus tea with guava and a Floral mixed tea

Adventures in Sewing

I've always been kind of interested in sewing, but didn't really catch the bug until after my daughter was born. It was then that I really started to long to make her cloth diapers and clothing myself. My mother was a wonderful seamstress and made everything imaginable. I knew that if she was still with us, she would have made so many things for my daughter and taught me how to make those adorable diapers and covers she made for my nieces and nephews.

It took me awhile to gather up the time and supplies, but I was determined to sew my daughters 1st birthday dress. I bought some beautiful fabric back in December and was so excited to finally put it to use. I borrowed my sisters sewing machine and accessories, went through my mothers old patterns and bought some other things I would need for my projects. I wanted to make a simple dress for her actual birthday and then something slightly more fancy for her birthday party.

The most intense part for me was figuring out the patterns. I wound up getting 2 simpler patterns off Etsy for the dresses. I really wanted to use my mothers, but I just could not figure them out. I will use them in the future I'm sure.
I was quite amazed that I remembered how to load a bobbin and thread a machine. It all just came back to me. I used to spend hours at her feet while she sewed or playing around in her sewing room asking questions and "helping". I can't remember an exact lesson, but somehow all that my mother had taught me about sewing that was locked away in my brain somewhere came flowing out.
I did a couple of practice stitches on a scrap, but felt pretty comfortable quite quickly. My mother was guiding me for sure!

I'm no pro and I know with time my stitching and technique will get better, but I truly enjoyed making these dresses and can't wait to have my own sewing room! I'll continue to post my progress. Perhaps one day my daughter will be playing at my feet and "helping" while I'm sewing things for her.

(back of party dress)


(birthday dress)

(p.s, apologies for the horrid pics. Better ones to come)

Placentaphagy for Postpartum Health and Well Being

Placentaphagy is the practice of eating your own placenta.
Placenta is great for many things, but is especially wonderful for postpartum Moms. It is rich in nutrients that aid in postpartum healing and well being. Consuming your placenta after birth can help bring your bodies hormones back into balance, stop postpartum hemorrhage, replenish nutrients, increase milk supply and keep postpartum depression at bay. There are many ways to consume your placenta. Some people choose to cook it first, but I wanted to use it raw, so that all the nutrients remained intact.

When I became pregnant I started researching the benefits of placenta and decided that I would give it a try. My daughter is now 9 weeks old and I am very pleased that I used my placenta. I lost quite a bit of blood during birth, but I had no issues postpartum. I also had much more energy than I or my midwife expected. I had placenta smoothies for a week after birth and then started on my capsules.

You can have someone else prepare the placenta for you or do it yourself. I am DIYer in many other aspect of life, so I figured this should be no different. My midwife offered to help me with it and I gathered all the needed supplies, so that I would have everything ready to go come labor day.

For the smoothies I used mixed berries(masks the color and taste of the placenta) and pineapple. usually I would use a scoop of green protein powder, but placenta is rich in iron and protein, so it wasn't needed.
For the capsules, I used my dehydrator, spice/coffee grinder, capsules and a capsule machine.
I ordered some of my encapsulation supplies from here http://shop.placentabenefits.info/

Directly after birth, the placenta was double bagged and stored in the fridge. I started preparing the placenta the next day. I took my time with it while baby napped and it turned out to be incredibly therapeutic. While prepping it, I thought of all that we had just been through and how just hours ago, that placenta was inside of me nurishing my baby. I studied the different parts of the placenta and really took in just how amazing it was. In these moments I understood why some women choose to make placenta prints to hang on the wall or plant their placenta.

There are several different methods to dehydrating placenta. Here are the basic steps I used.

Cover all surfaces you will be working on with wax paper (remember you are working with a raw organ, so proper hygiene is very important)
Rinse placenta
Remove cord and membrane
Cut into small thin pieces (dehydrates faster)
I lay some out on wax paper and froze for smoothies
I put the rest in my dehydrator on parchment paper and dehydrated on 110 degrees until it was dry
(the pieces should snap when you bend them)
Process in grinder into a smooth powder
Encapsulate (how many capsules you get depends on the size of your placenta. I had approximately 100)
I washed everything that came into contact with my placenta in hot water and then soaked in tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract.

*Warning*
Some of the pictures below are bloody. If you're easily offended don't go any further.

Pieces frozen for smoothies

Placenta on the deydrator screen. I also dried a piece of my daughters cord for a keepsake.

Dried pieces and pieces in grinder




Powder ready for encapsulation


My husband filled the capsules using a capsule machine. He said it made it much quicker.

Vitamin K and Newborns

To dose or not to dose, that is the question.
For us, it's not to dose. After researching the pros and cons of vitamin K right after birth and the risk of vitamin K deficiency, we decided against it. It's a personal decision for parents to make before the birth of their child. If you decide against vit K, your health care practitioner will likely have you sign a waiver before labor day.

In most hospitals, vit K is given to all newborns across the board. As a parent, you do have a choice in the matter.
For us, it is important to eliminate any unnecessary pain to our baby or unnecessary substances to our baby's system. If you opt out of vitamin k, you can still have your baby dosed in cases of a traumatic birth causing alot of bruising or scarring.

Since the 3rd trimester, I've been drinking nettles and red rasberry leaf tea daily.
http://andeverything-in-between.blogspot.com/2009/10/red-raspberry-leaf-and-nettle-leaf-tea.html
At 39 weeks, I added an extra cup per day in preperation for birth. This will give my colostrum and breastmilk a vit k boost. It will not give baby as much as an injection or oral dose would, but I feel it will be sufficient enough for an average, non traumatic home birth. We also will delay cord clamping/cutting so baby won't be deprived of their natural blood volume.

Again, this is a personal decision for parents to make. Just know that you do have a choice in what happens to your baby during and after birth.

Helpful websites
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/vitktop.html
http://www.womens-health.co.uk/vitk.asp

Hypnobabies

http://hypnobabies.com/

Hypnobabies teaches medical hypnosis techniques for childbirth. It aims to help you create a peaceful childbirth experience for yourself, your baby and your birth partner. You can either take the course in person or order the home study course.

I know a couple of Mamas who took the class and were very satisfied with it. They loved it, but with the expense and time it would take to do the class, I figured I would do better with the home course. I bought a used set from the hypnobabies website and after I'm done, I can sell it back to them.

I started the course at about 6 months along and I've been really pleased with it. When I first looked into hypnobabies, I was thinking you would be completely out of it. It's not like that at all. It's a way to deeply relax yourself by creating your own mental anesthesia and reprogram any negative thoughts of birth you may have.

Hypnobabies also emphasizes staying positive throughout the whole pregnancy and not letting any negative comments or visual images make you fearful of natural birth. Another thing I enjoy, are the affirmations you listen to each day. The affirmations are about everything from trusting your body to eating healthy and excepting your growing belly. They help me tremendously!

They recommend you start at about 30 weeks, because it's a 5 weeks course. However, if you're like me and get side tracked, they recommend you start earlier, so you can get through all of it and practice before baby comes. I'm currently 40 weeks and doing what's called daily maintenance.

The relaxation techniques I've used during my pregnancy have been priceless. I'm curious to see how I do with everything I've learned from hypnobabies on my baby's birthday.
I will update this post once baby is here!

Baby Blessing

My husband and I decided that we would love to celebrate the birth of our child in the tradition of the Navaho Blessingway. I knew that the traditional American baby shower wouldn't be something we participated in, when I became pregnant. I appreciate the fact that people love to throw these events for an expecting Mom, but I wanted something deeper and more heartfelt that would bring a sense of positivity to baby and I going into baby's birthday. I wanted to gather with family and friends, eat wonderful food, enjoy each others company and receive all the wisdom and blessings everyone had to offer.

There are several ways to incorporate the traditions of a Blessingway into your gathering. During our blessing, we had an area set up where our family and friends could choose to write a letter to our unborn child for them to read when they are older. Toward the end of the evening, we passed a candle around the room and received everyone's blessing in the form of wisdom, stories, advice or whatever they chose to share with us.

I am so glad that we did this! The positive vibes were amazing. We had ours a month ago and I am still on a blissful high from everyone's beautiful words. I know that my unborn child heard every word and felt all the love that surrounded them. I will now go into baby's birthday knowing that they will be birthed in the most positive way possible.

Here are some resources I used to plan our Baby Blessing.
http://blessingwayceremony.com/
http://pregnancy.about.com/cs/blessingway/a/aa102202a.htm
http://thebirthsource.homestead.com/blessingway.html

Birth Beads

Birth beads are a wonderful way to celebrate the upcoming birth of your baby. You can choose some of your favorites with special meaning to you or you can participate in a bead swap with other Mama's due around the same time that you are. Either way, it's great to sit and string the beads as you visualize your baby's birth day.

I participated in a bead swap with other ladies in a Mama's group I belong too. We are all due in March and thought this would be a great way to connect with each other during our births. We chose beads with special meaning to us and sent those along with encouraging notes to each member of the group.

I sent aquamarine beads. It is my birthstone and may be the birthstone of our babies. Aquamarine stones are very calming and are known to reduce stress.






The beads I received.


I was so excited when I received my beads. It made my heart sing to read the messages of love from the other Mama's. I sat and focused on each of those messages while I made my birthing necklace. I visualized how I would be wearing it, holding it or just looking at it during my labor time. It may seem like such a small thing, but I really think this necklace will help me through labor and I will cherish it for all time.

Chiro's for Prego's

Ahhh, the chiropractor.
I never thought of going to the chiropractor before becoming pregnant. I never had any body or joint pains that bothered me that much. Sure, there was a running injury here and there, but nothing I felt needed chiro attention.

At the beginning of my 2nd trimester, I became immobile. I was aware of the relaxin hormone and what it does to a pregnant body, but I had no idea the pain it could cause. It started out as just aching hips and trouble getting up from a seated or laying position. For weeks, I was on the verge of tears several times throughout the day. Then, it got so bad that I would get stuck in mid stride while out walking. The last straw was when I got stuck getting up from the toilet. I was in so much pain that I had to have my husband help get me out of the bathroom and into bed.

I had been reading up on some other women's experiences getting adjusted while pregnant. Some needed pain relief, others wanted to adjust the position of the baby toward the end of pregnancy. I spoke to my midwife and she recommended a chiropractor that dealt with pregnant women.
I hobbled into the office for my first visit. There was a consultation followed by a few minutes on the roller bed. I don't know the technical term for it, but it's basically a heated bed with rollers underneath used to loosen you up. It was relaxing. After that, the chiro assessed me to see what type of adjustments I would need. Then, he got started and snap, crackle, pop we were done. It was an odd experience, but after about 20 minutes, I felt so much better. As the day went on, I felt even better. The next day, I was like a new woman! There was still some soreness, but nothing like I had been experiencing. Keep in mind, everyone has a different reaction to a chiro visit and may need more than one adjustment.

I am now in my 3rd trimester and just went back for an adjustment last week. I was starting to get stuck walking again and had been dealing with sciatica. http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/sciatica/pregnancy-back-pain-sciatica
Once again, I'm feeling like a new woman. This time however, I could not tolerate the roller bed. Since the 2nd tri, I can only lay on my back for a couple of minutes and all that motion was making me sick. So, he used some other techniques to loosen me up before the adjustment.

Mama's, please don't spend your pregnancy in pain. If you haven't already and you feel you need to, go see a chiropractor. Just make sure you check with your health care provider and find someone who works with pregnant women.

Protein Packed Green Smoothies

Most mornings I start my day off with a green smoothie, green juice, fruit, dry cereal or nuts. Not all at once! It's usually 1 to 3 of these.

When I became pregnant and morning sickness hit me, green smoothies were no longer my friend. I could not fathom drinking them any longer. Just the thought alone took me to places I didn't want to go! How odd to me that something I've had almost everyday for the past couple of years was no on the up-chuck list. I've since learned that this is the way with pregnancy, sometimes your body feels as if it's not your own.

After a couple of weeks of sickness, I was determined to get back on the smoothie train. My body needed protein and iron even more now than ever and I wasn't eating much of it, so this was a must for me.

I started off slow and eventually worked my way back into my smoothie/juice routine. After overcoming that first hurdle, this has been a staple of mine throughout the day. If you've ever been pregnant you know that though nutrition is key, your bodies changes along with wants and desires sometimes don't match up. Having a variety of different smoothies and juices each day helps me know that my baby and I are getting all the nutrients I need and it keeps me fueled throughout the day.

Some days, I just don't feel like even getting all my ingredients together to make a smoothie, so I've made the process easier for myself. Here's a couple tips that may help you through those low energy mornings.

-Make sure that all fruits and veggies are washed and ready to go
-Precut any produce that you can, so you can just grab it and toss in the blender
-I blend up my greens and liquid 3 days in advance and freeze in an ice tray. I then pop them out and put in a freezer safe container

Try a variety of combinations. I just go with how I'm feeling that day along with what was available at the farmers market that week. The list of possibilities is endless!

Basic Smoothie
1 cup ice
1 cup fruit
*2 handfuls of greens (kale, spinach, dandelion, etc)
**protein powder
1 cup liquid (nut milks, water, juice)

Add agave, honey or your fav sweetner, if your smoothie isn't as sweet as you like.
Sometimes, I also add maca powder and/or flax seed oil.
Toss it all in the blender and blend until smooth.

*If you don't have a high speed blender, you may want to use greens that aren't so tough, such as spinach.

**Use as recommended. I use 1/2 a scoop in an 8oz smoothie. I use this one; http://www.seacoastvitamins.com/product_info.php?products_id=567

Red Raspberry Leaf and Nettle Leaf Tea

So refreshing and good for you too! I love sipping on this tea over ice anytime of day. It makes me feel so good.

Before becoming pregnant, I had only used Nettles Leaf in my hair teas to cleanse and add shine. After conceiving, I found NL had even more to offer.

Nettles are wonderful for everyone, but are especially great during pregnancy. Nettles help strengthen the uterus, increase fertility and ease cramps and muscle spasms. What a great way to get needed iron and other nutrients into your body.
Brew some up to pour through your hair and enjoy internally!

Nettles Leaf (Urtica dioica)

-rich in iron and chlorophyll
-contains the minerals calcium, magnesium, silicon, sulphur, copper, chromium, zinc, cobalt, potassium and phosphorus
-vitamins A, C, D, E, and K as well as riboflavin and thiamin

Red Raspberry Leaf (Rubus idaeus)

RRL is used before pregnancy to regulate menstrual cycles and decreases heavy bleeding. During pregnancy, many midwives recommend it throughout 2nd and 3rd trimesters as well as post partum. It is known to tone the uterus, decrease nausea and ease labor pains.

-rich in iron, calcium, manganese and magnesium
-contains vitamin A. C, E and B complex
-aid fertility
-tone and strengthen uterus
-minimize bleeding

*If you are pregnant, be sure to do your own research and check with your health care practitioner before brewing up a batch.*

How I make mine;
I use 1 part NL and 1 part RRL.
I use 2tsp of this mix per 1 cup of tea.
I always make a large batch of about 6 cups, using 3 cups of hot water to brew and then adding 3 cups cold water. I brew my leaves for a minimum of 10 minutes.
Sweeten it to taste and enjoy over ice.



I drink about 8oz every other day. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less :)

Sources;
"Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year" by Susun Weed
http://www.susunweed.com/WiseWomanHerbals.htm

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/herbaltea.html